Fractured Love
by Tribal Ghost Story
Summary: The depressed wolf who calls himself Humphrey attempts to get over the fact that the wolf he so loved doesn't feel the same for him. In his saddened stupor, he manages to find a new reason to stay in Jasper Park. /Indefinite hiatus. /Incomplete.
1. Chapter 1

I was too weak, too much of an Omega, to tell Kate that I loved her. When Kate's wedding was interrupted by the caribou before it was completed, it continued the next day. However, Kate had told Garth that she couldn't marry him for her own reasons and that's when Garth had confessed his love to Kate's sister, Lilly. He married Lilly and united the Eastern and Western packs; pack law was changed from that point for Alphas and Omegas.

While I was lying in my own den for the night, alone, I contemplated deeply on my thoughts.

"Even if Omegas and Alphas are allowed to be together now, what would the chances be of me ending up with her?" I asked myself out loud. I rested my head on my paws and shifted. No matter what I tried, I couldn't get into a comfortable position to sleep.

I remember trying to tell her when I had the chance, but I tensed up; mostly because I didn't see anything in her eyes when she looked back at me. She couldn't possibly be that good at hiding her emotions. She's just like any other wolf, but if she felt nothing for me, then she didn't love me the way I loved her. When we were taken together to Sawtooth, she and I began to get closer; I could feel it. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to matter now.

It was hard not to think about Kate and I being together. It was all I could ever think about since she had left that day to become an Alpha.

I daydreamed heavily about her. Kate's amber eyes in a passionate stare with my own and the sun gleaming off of her soft fur made my heart melt as I would lovingly embrace her. It was too good to be true…

Another thought crashed into my mind; I hadn't been spending much time with my friends: Shakey, Salty, and Mooch. I felt that I was getting distant from them, and I didn't want that. I had once told them I'd be there when they were going to sled, but I didn't show up. They didn't deserve that kind of treatment from someone they called a friend. Kate, though, had an obsession to me. I began not to care of whether or not she loved me back and I couldn't help but be saddened by my love for the most attractive wolf I had ever known but also the one that I couldn't have. Better yet, her personality was the perfect match to mine; we made a great team when faced with problems and many other things; our howls even matched. I couldn't get the thoughts out of my head; we were meant to be together, but I had missed my chance and I couldn't stop thinking about it. Perhaps spending time with my friends would be good for me.

I felt a wave of anxiety come over me and I decided to take a short stroll in the calm night, lit by the moon and stars, to calm my nerves.

I couldn't help but think about the day I had the chance to tell Kate about my feelings as I walked my way around a few dens. Reminiscing, I remembered that after Kate had woken up from her unconscious state induced from being trampled by caribou, I remember choking up when I was about to say the three words to her again, this time when she was conscious. Instead, I just told her that I was glad she was okay and she hugged me. At first, I thought she was going to tell me something, something important, but her family quickly had her attention pulled away from me. I knew that if she had something important to say, she would have told me later that day. She never did tell me anything more than me being a great friend to her. Everyday since then, my courage drained and I could no longer face Kate. That was just it; I couldn't face her with the way I thought about her any longer. I either had to tell her now, or find someone else of my _rank_ that other wolves would say I can end up with. The pack law was changed, yes, but that didn't stop wolves from being prejudiced against the higher and lower social classes.

"Maybe I should get Kate out of my mind… At least with the way I keep thinking about her." I said to myself. I sat lazily under the stars and bright moon. One more day, and it would be full. The Moonlight Howl would be tomorrow night. It wasn't like I cared much for it though; I knew I wasn't going anytime soon.

Thinking of the Eastern wolves, I hadn't met any of them other than a few that would wander into our territory; none of the wolves I had met were Omegas though. The Eastern pack had more Alphas than they did Omegas, but only by a few wolves. They hadn't moved all of there wolves to the western territory yet, mainly because those wolves didn't feel trusting of us Western Wolves.

When I was just about to get up and leave to my den, I heard a voice behind me that made my stomach lunge into my throat and cause my heart to skip a beat. The voice belonged to Kate.

"What are you doing out here all alone, Humphrey?" she asked me with a curious tone that sounded almost cheery. I could almost feel her smile; she must have been talking with someone else that made her happy. I noticed that she was a bit more laid back than usual, knowing when to have fun when her serious attitude wasn't needed. I must have left an impression on her when we were in Idaho.

I didn't know how to respond, I didn't even look back at her. "I'm just, um… staring at the moon." I answered too fast; she could tell something was wrong. I shouldn't have answered at all.

"Come on Humphrey," she said, "I know you better than that."

I wondered, in all the time we had spent together, that she may have the same feelings I have for her; but I didn't know why she hadn't told me if it was true though. Then another thought came into my head: perhaps she was going through this exactly the way I was, and she couldn't get _me_ out of her head.

"It's nothing really, I just couldn't sleep." I replied in truth this time. I could almost feel her warm and comforting eyes staring at me. I heard her walk towards me and could see her sit by my side closely within my peripheral vision, as if we had been friends forever but not exactly together in a sort of way that couples were. When I looked to her, I felt very helpless and saddened; my face began to show it. "Why aren't you asleep?" I asked. I had to hide my expression in some way.

"Well, I met a new wolf, and I think he's kind of cute. He's an Omega like you." she replied. It felt like she was taunting me now. It tore me apart to here those words, but I only smiled and said, "Oh, really?" I really did lose my chance with her…

"Yeah," she said with enthusiasm, "He's from the Eastern pack; I've seen him before, but I only just met him today while I was in the eastern territory."

It was too much for me, but I kept myself under control as she continued to strike at my breaking heart. But I began to think I was overreacting for no reason, she could just be trying to find a friend.

"That's great, Kate." I said. I was about to ask her something but she cut me off.

"He asked me to the Moonlight Howl tomorrow night."

Those words were what broke me. If Kate was asked to be another wolf's howling partner, then it would most likely be to find out if they were right for each other. I hated the other wolf now with a hate I've never known before, even if I haven't yet met him. I had kept a small smile on my face, but I couldn't control my emotions as my smile dissipated when she said those words. I could be telling Kate to go with me instead and tell her to forget about that wolf. I was scared though, I didn't know if she'd have me and I was frightened of her rejection of me.

She looked at me with confusion in her eyes. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Oh… Nothing, I just remembered something is all." I answered quickly. I couldn't let Kate in anymore, she was tearing me apart.

"Something bad?" she asked. I shrugged and told her not to worry. Her entire being was giving me pain when I stared at her. I turned my head away from her and looked up at the stars hoping to find some form of comfort, but I found only helplessness as I looked up at the vast glittering darkness.

"You aren't the same anymore, Humphrey, what's happened?" she asked.

I opened my mouth to answer, but I could make the words I wanted to say; I was choking up again. So I shrugged instead and continued to look at the stars. I wanted to tell her that she's the reason for me acting the way I have been, but that wouldn't be fair. I had changed because of myself.

I decided to change the subject for a quick rout out, so I chose to talk about the Eastern Pack.

"Are the rest of the Eastern Pack wolves going to move to our territory any time soon?" I asked, it was an honest question.

She shook her head and raised an eye brow, possibly finding my hesitance to answer her question peculiar.

"They'll all be here in the morning, my father and Tony talked about it," she said, "But why won't you answer me?"

I had to find a way out, but it never felt right to lie to her. "It's not something I want to talk about Kate, let's just drop it." I said, not noticing the harsh sternness in my voice. I had never talked to Kate like that. She was taken aback by my tone, and looked at the ground for a second in deep thought.

"I'm here if you need to talk to me, Humphrey," she said as she stood up, "You know I always will be."

I didn't watch her walk away, I had seen her do that all too often and another part leaves me every time she goes. Her words gave me comfort, but they did little to nothing to help my situation. The entire time in that moment, I never once looked into her eyes.

So it was final; I had to forget about Kate and I being together. It wasn't an easy idea to realize, but it was the truth. All this time, though, I had been thinking of only myself; selfishly. I never once thought about what Kate wanted. She deserved far more than a scruffy weak Omega like me. I knew I couldn't have everything I wanted, but when it's someone you love, it's much more difficult to let go. When it's coupled with the thought of me not giving Kate what she wanted, it was much easier.

I looked from the moon to the ground and closed my eyes. When I opened them, I felt them sting and my vision became blurry; a tear rolled off of my muzzle. It fell to the ground with a glint and spattered against blades of grass. I sniffed and cleared my throat to gather my composure. I stood up and made my way to my own den to get what little sleep I could for the rest of the night.

My den wasn't very small; it was big enough for four wolves to sleep with a comfortable distance from each other. Too big for a single wolf though. I'd curl up near the sides of the den and keep my eyes trained on the entrance until I fell into sleep. I never really liked it when others would sneak up on me.

As I down to get some sleep, I faced the opposite of the entrance. I don't know why things were different this time; I had wished that I would never wake up. I just didn't care much anymore now that I realized I'm not meant for the one I love.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hello?" I called out. I could tell I was in the Western Pack's den area away from my own den but, strangely enough, I found no one around. I couldn't quite remember how I had gotten here in _this_ particular den.

"Where could they all be?" I asked myself out loud. There would have at least been the pups and a few Omegas to baby sit, and two or three Alphas around to help protect them. I checked the pup's dens and I was proven wrong. It felt very strange to me.

I suddenly turned my eyes to horizon and found the sun rising. I remembered that Kate told me the Eastern wolves would be here in the morning.

"_Maybe they're all in the Eastern territory." _I thought to myself. It would have been probable. My den was further away from the main den area than others, so I wasn't surprised to find that I was forgotten. I knew I was easy to forget, but not forgotten in such a way that left everyone to abandon me Even Kate did. I may be a good friend to her, but she isn't to me. In any other circumstance, I would have clawed my face for thinking of such things, but anger has a way of changing ideas.

I had pushed out thinking that something bad had happened; there would have been signs of panic or a struggle around the territory. I couldn't find any signs so I casually made my way to the eastern side of Jasper. It would take a while, but I had nothing else to do.

While I walked, I turned my attention to the ground to see if I could find any paw prints, there were none. However, what I found peculiar was finding the air to be a crisp and clean smell. I couldn't sniff out my own pack's scent. I put my nose to the ground and began to sniff around. There would have been some old scents at least, but I found none whatsoever.

"Strange…" I said to myself. Maybe I lost the ability to smell.

Suddenly, I heard what sounded like a soft rustle coming from behind me. I quickly turned around and asked if anyone was around, but I heard no reply. I scrutinized my surroundings and found nothing. "_Maybe it's my mind playing tricks on me._" I thought.

Soon after, I began to feel dizzy and nauseous from my surroundings. Everything seemed to whirl around quickly; I closed my eyes tightly and shook my head thinking the feeling would go away.

I opened my eyes to see my surroundings had darkened by the presence of night. The full moon was high in the sky and was shining brightly over… where ever I was. I clearly remember being amongst the many dens of the western territory, but the place around me was barren of dens. I realized that I was sitting upon Howling Rock alone, or at least I thought I was.

I heard what sounded like a pebble being kicked across stone. I thought it could have been Kate, but when I turned around, what I thought had been wrong. Standing directly in front of me, was a wolf.

The wolf's fur was silver that would cast a pseudo-radiance in the moonlight. The wolf's facial expression was looking at me as if I were a friend, or even something more; looking at me with its striking blue eyes that were a perfect contrast to its silver fur. By what I could tell from its features, the wolf was female. We were only a few inches away from each other, uncomfortably close for my liking. She gave off the essence of an Alpha with her muscular stature and vibrant strength glowing off of her. Almost like Kate in a way.

She looked up into the sky, and I curiously followed her gaze. There was no doubt in my mind that she was looking at the moon; it was unusually big and bright. Beautiful.

I turned back to her, but when I did, I felt my lips connect with hers. I was taken by surprise at first, but in that moment, I saw that she was enjoying it, so I closed my eyes and let myself go.

If Kate was able to find someone else, so could I.

**xXx**

I was awakened by a distant voice that seemed to be getting closer. I couldn't tell what to make of it with the feeling of grogginess from many hours of sleep. By what I could tell, the sun had been out for a while. "_I must have slept in._" I thought. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes intermittently with my paws and I finally stretched to get some feeling and strength to my muscles and limbs again. I could no longer hear the voice anymore. I shrugged off what I thought I had heard, but I failed to notice the wolf peering into my den.

"Oh, sorry," the wolf said, "Didn't know anyone was still living here." The voice was feminine. I turned my head around to see a light grey wolf standing at the entrance of my den. I could make out some of its features, but they didn't belong to anyone I knew.

"It's fine." I smiled. She just stared. I remembered that Kate had said the Eastern Wolves were going to arrive in the morning, and it was clearly past morning. The wolf slowly and clumsily backed out and left my den's entry way.

I followed her out. "Is there something you need help with?" I asked. If she was indeed an Eastern Wolf, then I might as well make a good impression.

"I got it." she replied.

"Okay..." I continued to follow, "Are you from the East?" She didn't respond. She had her nose to the ground sniffing in a quickened manner. She then brought her nose into the air to catch a scent that I was oblivious to.

"There you are." I heard her whisper, looking to her right. A wolf stepped out of some shrubs and walked up to her.

"I couldn't find any." the wolf said. Its voice sounded masculine and loud. He was obviously male and looked slightly taller than me but a little skinnier, and with darker fur. He also had a pair of dull yellow eyes that were easily noticeable.

"Same." the female wolf said. The male stopped and sat in front of her.

The male turned his attention to me. "Who's this?"

"Hm? Who? she asked.

"Uh, the wolf who's home you walked into," I said with a slightly sarcastic tone. Neither seemed to notice. The two wolves must have been close friends, or even a couple. "I'm Humphrey, nice to meet you."

"Ah," the male started. "Pleasure to meet you too. My name's Darrow. You hunt?"

His manner took me off guard. His questioning was rather direct and took on a mixed meaning. He looked like an Omega. Perhaps he was a fast sprinter. Or he just liked asking random questions.

"Are you an Alpha?" I realized I answered his question with a question. I hoped he didn't take it offensive that I failed to give an answer. Most Alphas were a bit prideful and didn't take very kindly to insults in any form or fashion. I could get away with it due to my charm, but it could only get me so far.

"He is." the female replied, turning to face me. Her stare was unnerving for a reason I couldn't quite explain. She focused to the left of me but it was as if she was staring past me. Every time I would say something, she'd change what she was looking at. To the right of me, the left, then the right again. I put it off as a nervous tick and decided against asking her why she was acting so odd. Her ears were poised almost permanently in my direction, but would turn to Darrow when he spoke.

"This is my sister Akayla. We're from the Eastern side of Jasper." That answered both of my immediate questions. I wanted to ask if they had other family around. Judging their size and features, they were older than me but not by much. If they had a mother or a father around, I'm sure they'd already struck out on their own, but them sticking together seemed to partially dismiss that. With the packs becoming unified, Darrow's rank would likely be tested. The East voting to merge with the West gave my own pack the advantage. I heard there were negotiations, but I knew nothing of what was actually negotiated. Nevertheless, my questioning of their family was overtaken by a new question.

"What are you doing poking around the dens?" My tone was almost accusative, but I didn't mean it like that. The playful twinge my voice always carried was enough to cover for it.

"Oh, we're just looking for a place. All the ones we found were taken." Darrow replied. I heard that the Eastern side was bad, but I didn't know it was bad enough that every wolf there was keen on packing up and heading off to our comfy Western side. We had enough dens to house many, but not all of the East.

"I see. Would you like some help? I know the area." I offered. Darrow shook his head.

"We can take care of ourselves." He answered. Akayla seemed irritated and made it known with a huff.

"Why do you keep throwing everyone's help away?" she asked him. When she spoke to him, she looked at the ground a bit in front of him. She then turned in my direction. "We'd appreciate the help, but we're going to explore a little bit more. We'll come back if we need anything though. Is that alright?" she asked. I nodded. She didn't respond.

"Good. We should get to it then." Darrow picked himself up and ushered for Akayla to come along with a call of her name. I didn't want to judge, but they were a bit odd. The way the female acted was strange and the way the male seemed to cater to her seemed different than how normal interaction between wolves would take place. Many thoughts flew through my head settling on the possibility that Akayla had a problem with her mind. It wasn't my place to speculate regardless of my disregard for having already done it. It gave an temporary explanation as to why they seemed to have a close bond with one another. A brother helping his sister. She must've been an Omega. In any case, they were soon out of sight, leaving me to myself.

With them gone, the excitement of the afternoon had died down.

I didn't know what to do for the rest of the day. I was curious as to what Kate was doing; perhaps she was with her new _friend_. I knew that I should see my own friends to see if they wanted to do some sledding or go hit on some of the new Omega she-wolves from the Eastern Wolf Pack, but that was more like me _teaching_ them to hit them.

I had also been thinking about the time I had told Kate I was going to leave Jasper and become a lone wolf; maybe it would be best if I'd followed through with that plan. It'd be a huge leap into the unknown, but I think I faired well enough when Kate and I were sort of temporarily forced out of Jasper.

I began walking my way to the pack leader's den where I hoped to find Kate, but I had no clue what I would do or say when I got there.

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for reading.<br>**


End file.
